The last Liars
by mimezz
Summary: A cross-over of the game The Last Of Us. A deadly virus has been plaguing humanity the last twenty years, and humanity is barely surviving. Spencer and Emily s convoy gets killed off while journeying , but by a stroke of luck crosses paths with Paige McCullers. They re going to have to learn to teamwork if they want to reach their goal. SORRY IT S KIND OF ON HIATUS FOR NOW.
1. Chapter 1

I have so many goddamn ideas in my head, I just have to write them down. Sorry, not sorry! And how I loved this game

**Chapter 1**

The eerie animatistic rumbling sound, was slowly fading and disappearing somewhere towards the north end of the street, behind the old corroded cars standing scrambled on the narrow road between the tall buildings in the middle of the city. The old metal sign that said "_Weldon's clocks"_ was hanging with the text going vertically as a result of only one rusted screw still holding it up in its right end.

"You think it's gone?" a whispered voice croaked out, her heart still pounding like it´d explode in a matter of seconds.

"Shhh!" Another voice cut off, the woman's initial panic subsiding into, what was well-known to the girl next to her, irritation and slight aggression. Her more collected companion understood though; not being on edge after that chase down would´ve been inhumane.

The bossy brunette slowly got up on her knees and casually peaked out the passenger window of the abandoned van they´d sought refuge in; the infected human had lost sight of them and ventured forward the direction he assumed they were still running to. There was no sight of him anymore, no sound either.

"Yeah, it´s gone." she breathed out, and fell back down and let her back rest against the cars inner wall. She dragged her fingers through the front of her hair and gave a tired sigh; her female companion doing the same.

"I don´t think I´ve ever been so scared in my whole life" the raven haired girl confessed. "I almost wet myself."

"Yeah, well… It´ll definitely not the first or last time that´s gonna happen" Remembering the sudden appearance of the maniac running towards them out of seemingly nowhere with its teeth on full show, ready to clamp down on their flesh first chance it got, sent a shudder down her spine. "So you better work on that bladder-control Emily"

The girl gave the brunette a friendly slap on the arm. "Har har. Really funny Spence"

They both sat in the calming silence in their hideout, Spencer eyeing an old torn apart Wonder Woman comic next to an old transport box, as Emily was observing a well-kept toolbox next to a little pile of old pipes having fallen from their rack. Wrenches of all sizes was adorning the opposite wall, still hanging were they should.

Emily eventually brought them out of their quiet reverie.

"So what do we do now?"

Spencer firmly set her gaze into Emily´s concerned eyes with a look of steel. "The only thing we can do: continue forward."

There would be no backing out of this one. They were too far away from their city, they couldn´t turn back now. Emily nodded, and took a deep breath, shuddered as she slowly breathed out again. "Okay."

Spencer first thought she should say something encouraging or kind, but found her mind spinning and couldn´t find anything appropriate to say. And she knew Emily wasn´t the weak and frail woman some people made her out to be. She was reliable in difficult situations, and scarily furious when backed far enough into a corner; Metaphorically of course.

"Alright, let´s move" Spencer gripped her sturdy backpack and groaned a bit as she pulled it up onto her back and tied the harness around her waist. It was nowhere near light to carry, and she figured Emily could need a break. She had to run while carrying this clumsy thing for quite a while after all.

As they exited their temporary zone of security and stepped out onto the pavement, they felt the unease creeping up on them again.

Emily couldn´t help but glance at the former driver of the van, and gently pried the front door open. She furrowed her eyes as she tried to read the fainted words on the badge stuck to his blue uniform.

"_Carl… Weston_" she murmured out, the small words ´_Plumber jacks CO_´ just underneath his name. The flesh had rotted away already, and even though she should feel uncomfortable, she couldn´t help but think how he looked almost peaceful sitting there in his seat, head tilted slightly to the side.

Spencer had stopped to wait next to Emily, but noticed a very welcome surprise as Emily had thanked the skeleton in the car for letting them borrow his car.

She nudged Emily aside and reached over him to the passenger seat, feeling slightly disgusted at being so close to a corpse and tried not to touch it. She gripped the object and opened the glove compartment, feeling a slight relief.

"What is it?" Emily questioned curiously from behind, as Spencer eased herself out; careful not to touch anything unnecessarily.

She smirked as she showed her a small gun and a small box of loaded magazine cases. "Our dear Carl left a little gift for us" she pressed on the small buttoned on its side, discarded the almost empty magazine case, and let a new full one take its place, hearing a click. If she would have to use the gun, she´d rather have it fully loaded at once.

"Spence, you can´t just _take it_!"

"Emily, _he´s dead_. He won´t need it" She deadpanned and pulled down on the magazine just to make sure it was seated. "But we do. As much as I´m an aggressive little Chihuahua when sleepy, it won´t help us if we run into any infected"

Emily quickly realized how foolish she had sounded, realizing Spencer was right as she usually was.

"Do you know how to use it?"

Spencer checked that the safety was on and let it hang in her belt. "I learn quickly."

The two trudged on; walking around the scattered cars along the road as they suddenly heard the sound of an empty metal can rattle against the pavement just a bit farther up the road.

The two looked each other in the eye and silently knew they had to move away and hide. Emily unfortunately got caught with her shoe in some junk they hadn´t taken notice of, and fell hands down and knocked over an empty trashcan. The harsh, loud clang of the hollow metal piece clashing down against the ground sounded over the street, and both Spencer and Emily felt a harsh cold chill come over them.

Spencer quickly went to pull Emily up on her feet, begging silently that whatever it was that had moved that metal can before had just been a cat or the wind. The two were absolutely silent as if their current quietness would make up for the previous catastrophe. But now they could hear a faint growl and clicking noise, growing increasingly loud. Of course it would be infected. And of course they would´ve heard.

The two scrambled quickly, running along the building walls and looking for a hideout; maybe an open window to throw themselves into and just hide.

They then saw the _Weldon´s clocks_ sign just a couple of steps ahead, and thank god it had an open window that had just been covered with a loose board from the inside making it seem closed off at first glance.

Spencer hastily motioned for Emily to jump inside first, as she picked up her gun ready to shoot if they´d see her before she got inside.

Emily heaved herself in, careful not to cause any sort of damage to the backpack, and hastily whispered for Spencer to hurry inside. They could hear the loud approaching noises, the disgusting growls and eerie clicking traveling outside along the road towards them.

Emily hurriedly put back the board to cover the entrance, and they both kneeled down under the windows, out of sight from outside, praying that they had been unseen.

The sounds were hovering outside, until they ventured on towards the fallen trashcan and onwards, the noises fading away as they disappeared north.

Emily took a breath, feeling like she´d stopped breathing for half an hour, and let out an ´_Oh thank god_´, as she dared stand up again.

"I´m so sorry Spencer"

"It´s fine, just be careful next time"

Spencer removed her hand that had rested on the gun, ready to pull it out and shoot if they hadn´t been so lucky.

"Hey, would you mind checking around and see if there´s anything we can use? Band aids or nourishment, or something"

Emily nodded, slipped the off the backpack to the floor, and headed upstairs being careful to not make the stairs creak so much.

Spencer went around the ground floor, looking for a different way out. She wanted to avoid using the main road now that those monsters were aware something had moved around outside. She was worried they´d eventually come back and see her and Emily from behind, sure she had a gun but she had never fired one. She didn´t know if she could aim properly, and the less noise and attention they drew the better.

She found curtains pulled over almost all the windows, and furniture blocking them; most definitely a safety measure in case the infected tried to enter through the windows. She found a closet in a child´s room judging by the small bed, and it was filled with clothes which seemed to be women sized. The weird part about them was that they didn´t stink or were covered in dust or had been eaten up by bugs; they seemed very well-kept, smelled good, and Spencer briefly wondered if maybe she could wear them.

She went to the kitchen, and was almost shocked when she discovered the, what looked like, fresh drinkable water flowing from the tap. She tasted not even a mouthful, and almost moaned when she felt how it was clean. There was nothing wrong with the flowing, sweet, goodness.

She opened the cupboards out of pure curiosity, and found it filled with unopened tin cans, everything from peaches to ham. That´s when Spencer noticed the newly opened can of tomato soup with a spoon in it, the contents almost emptied. Only a small puddle in the bottom remained: and it didn´t smell foul as it should have if it had been standing there for some time. Someone lived here. Chances were high they still did.

Her face paled a bit, becoming aware she hadn´t heard or seen Emily for a while. She hurried to the hall and sneaked up the stairs.

"Emily?" she gently called out, and glanced across the hall, seeing all the doors being open. There was no response, Spencer hoped that Emily simply hadn´t heard her. "Emily?" she raised her voice a little, but dared not shout. It would be unwise.

She could suddenly hear a faint click. She turned around and saw Emily standing rigidly with tears in her eyes, and a woman pointing a rifle at her head.

"Don´t move if you value your friend´s life." She nudged Emily´s head with the pipe to get her point across. "Why don´t you slowly take that gun out of your belt" she gave a nod at Spencer´s waist "… and put it down on the floor and kick it over to me, okay?"

Spencer gritted her teeth as she silently gave Emily a look, trying to assure her it´d be okay. "Just don´t hurt her" she said and put the gun down on the floor.

The woman looked expectedly at Paige, until she cocked her eyebrows. "I said kick it over here" and then she gave her a faux face of pity, clearly trying to mock her. "or did you suddenly become unable to understand the verbal use of the English language?"

"Coming from someone who only seems to communicate by making _threats._" Spencer shot back, and reluctantly gave the gun a puny kick, which ended up right between them.

The woman looked at Spencer unimpressed, but shrugged it off. Truthfully, she secretly felt a bit impressed by the stubborn trespasser´s attitude, she was like a snarly cat that got pissed off if you tried to bathe it. "Mind telling me why you barge into my home and try to steal my stuff?"

"We were hiding from some infected. We got here by pure chance." Spencer looked as calm and collected as ever, then raised both her arms as a sign of surrender. "Look, we want nothing with you. We were just passing through, so can´t you just let us go?"

She glanced at Emily, who had seemed to have calmed herself somewhat. "And you´re kind of scaring my friend"

The woman who had stared at her with concentration, which had made Spencer a bit uncomfortable, softened her eyes a bit at Spencer's last statement.

"Sorry about that. But I don´t trust strangers very easily" Emily sighed of relief as she felt the pipe removed from the back of her head, her shoulders visibly relaxing. The woman carefully put the rifle on her back, the straps attached to it returning around her shoulder, though she kept her gaze steady on Spencer for any sudden movement, giving her a pointed look towards the gun on the floor; quietly conveying to Spencer that she should leave the gun where it lay for now. Spencer decided not to tread any deep waters; the fact that the woman now had put away her weapon had been a sign of trust. If she´d wanted to kill them both, she probably would´ve by now, Spencer mused.

The woman carefully nudged past Emily who jumped by the motion, as she hadn´t dared turn around even after the cold metal left her hair and the woman's body had distanced itself a bit from her own.

She picked up the gun on the floor while keeping her eyes on both of them. "Where are you heading?"

"Madison." Spencer was a bit worried that the woman would start questioning why they would go there. She didn´t like making things up on the spot.

The woman gave a nod, and observed the gun in her hand. "Well, you´re in Sutton, WV now so that roughly 100 miles from here. If you can, then avoid the main road and take the smaller ones." She carefully handed back the gun Spencer. "You´re gonna need that. You better know how to use it."

She then gave them both a tight-lipped smile, and headed down the stairs.

Emily and Spencer just stared at each other for a while, surprised that the situation had solved itself so easily. Spencer put the gun back in her belt. That woman seemed trustworthy enough.

They casually went down the staircase, and briefly wondered where the woman had run of to, until they found her lying comfortably on the couch with her black cowboy hat over her face and arms resting behind her head.

Emily was thoroughly confused by the woman, she could almost feel herself getting a headache. First the woman had ambushed her with her rifle and threatened her to keep quiet, then she just gave them back their gun, and now she was just completely vulnerable on her couch, paying them no more concern. Didn´t she just mention how Emily was about to steal her bottle of alcohol earlier? Logically she should still worry about them being on their own in her house; they _could_ technically steal anything from her still.

"Why did you turn so…_trusting_ all of a sudden?" Emily found herself asking. She felt slightly embarrassed, she hadn´t been able stop herself from asking the mysterious woman on the couch. Her head was soaring and she had a thousand of questions. Her mouth had gotten a conscience of its own.

The woman chuckled lightly, the hat bobbed where it rested. Her muffled voice came through the hat. "I know when people are lying. You were telling the truth so why shouldn´t I trust you?"

"Oh" was all Emily could exclaim. The answer only served to confuse her more.

Spencer, having been thinking hard cleared her throat, and approached the sofa; gripping Paige´s hat and lifting it up so they could speak face to face. "Are you familiar with traveling around these parts?"

"Yeah, I am"

"And you know how to use weapons?"

"Well, I wouldn´t survive here all on my own if I didn´t, would I?"

Spencer bit her lip, being quiet for a short moment until her voice came out more assured and confident than it had for quite a while.

"We would like to hire you."

Emily almost toppled over, and the woman's eyes looked like a flying saucer, until they became filled with mirth. "What for?"

"As our guide and bodyguard." Spencer said like it was the most obvious thing in the world, while Emily stared at her like she´d gone mad.

The woman slowly eased herself up into a sitting position, legs apart with her hands clasped together over her thighs, hunched forward and looking Spencer straight in the eye.

"And What´s in it for me?" she said, unconsciously reapplying moisture on her lips with her tongue.

"Food, weapon´s, supplies. We have access to pretty much whatever you´d need at the place we´re traveling to. We assure you, you´ll be plenty rewarded."

The woman thought for little while, staring into the air as she contemplated the offer. Emily was glancing between the woman and Spencer, and had been completely lost in their conversation. But she understood Spencer completely: they wouldn´t have a big chance of getting to Madison on their own. This woman obviously seemed like she had the skills and knowledge, and strong judging by her physique. She could probably keep them alive to reach their destination. Though she was still shaken up from the rifle incident.

"I´m in."

Spencer and Emily let out a sigh of relief. Maybe they finally had gotten a decent chance now.

"Spencer Hastings"

"Emily Fields"

"Pleasure" she said as they shook hands. "Paige McCullers"


	2. Chapter 2

**Darkredeyes** – Oh don´t worry, I´m not gonna throw any of them together for a little while at least, so there´s absolutely no hurry! It´s a journey. And I actually hadn´t thought to kill one of them of, but it sounds really interesting… Hmm. And wow, it´s an honor getting a review from you, I´ve read a couple of your stories!

**PWRDOWN** – Totally loved the gameplay and the ´needing to find solutions and different routes´, so I´m really going to do my best to take as much elements from the game as possible, it´s going to be pretty loaded with tough situations and the need to teamwork. Just hope that´s okay! And gosh, I´ve been reading your stories, I´m honored.

**Cici** – Don´t worry I haven´t planned for any of them to die, Yet… Heh. But maybe that´d be better story-wise, That seems a lot more fun ;) Nah, just pulling your leg. Oh wait, just kidding. Or was I?

**Supersaiyan214** – Kind of considered Spaily, I´m just a bit worried as to how to make that dynamic happen between them, it´s unknown territory for me. Maybe I should ask for **Faberittannainthetardis** expertise if it gets to that… Hmm… Definitely a possibility.

Thanks you peeps for the reviews! Any ideas you just burn for, scenarios, _deaths_… write them down for me and maybe I´ll add them in if I can! And thanks for reading! Truly honored. This is probably going to be a long, intense ride for our girls. Buckle up!

And I shall pray for a moment of Paige in tonight´s episode!

**Chapter 2 **

Paige had said she needed to pack some essentials, and had directed them to eat something while they had the time. Spencer skeptically eyed the tuna tin she´d put on the table after having observed the best before date, while Emily had just bent open her can in a haste and just devoured a mouthful of baked beans, humming as the slight burn her stomach had to endure were finally fading. Spencer observed Emily´s obvious delight of the food, and pursed her lips as she slowly worked the opener on the metal lid. It didn´t smell foul, so Spencer gave a sideways glance as to make sure Emily hadn´t suddenly started feeling sick and was about to spill her guts on the floor or something along those lines, and took a tiny taste of the tuna. It was surprisingly delicious. Although, probably anything would taste delicious when you haven´t eaten for almost two days.

They´d gotten an old rucksack from Paige to use, to lighten the load from the heavy one they´d carried with them. This meant they wouldn´t have to worry about their backs breaking, though they´d still take turns to carry their original luggage; it contained moderately heavy material. And highly precious.

Emily smacked her lips in front of the now empty can on the counter, and leaned back satisfied.

"You really think all of this is gonna work out?" She said, keeping her voice on a moderate level not wanting Paige, who currently was down doing something in the basement, to overhear.

"We kind of just met her. At gunpoint might I add" Emily still felt a bit skeptical, though were warming up to the idea after the free meal. But she had gotten a nagging suspicion that the woman was just fooling them into trusting her. The way she accepted that deal seemed to easy.

Spencer swallowed the pieces of fish in her mouth, and sternly looked down on the counter. She knew where Emily was coming from, she also had her doubts but they were screwed even without a possible treachery.

"Em, we´re low enough on our chances as it is. Five people got killed off in that tunnel, and then _two more_ just one day ago. We were _nine_ people Em, and they were all trained and prepared for this. We aren´t, we´re just…"

They both solemnly fell into silence, staring down and remembering the panicked screams when that horde of infected had ambushed them in the tunnels. The leader of the caravan had to abandon five of his crew in there, and sealed the door leading out shut; trapping the others in there to face their inevitable fate as they had banged on the door until the screams and growls had made the others unable to stay directly outside the door. Emily had cried while leaning on her friend, as Spencer had comforted her; saying how they needed to move on so the others hadn´t died for nothing. To finish what they started.

They both gotten a close friend in that group, whom they´d lost in that Fort Pitt Tunnel leading into Pittsburgh.

They´d lost Ian and the buff guy, lovingly called ´_Beefsteak_´, yesterday morning in Bridgeport by the bus station. They´d accidentally stepped on a landmine, while Emily had bandaged a small wound on Spencer´s ankle a bit further away.

"…We´ve just been lucky. We need her, she´s our only chance right now." Spencer huffed a bit and ruffled her hair. "Besides, we´re kind of going to save the whole humanity. Feeling reluctant to possibly share the fame with her?" she gave Emily a playful nudge. She needed to steer the conversation to lighter waters.

"Pshh, you wish. That sounds more like you, miss ´_Can´t lose_´" She shoved Spencer with a small laugh.

"Whatever" Spencer glanced at the remaining tin cans in the cupboard, and chewed her lip a bit until carefully grabbing two of them and quietly putting them in the backpack.

"Seriously?" Emily whispered, sounding like she´d just witnessed a scandal. "Spence, I don´t think we´re allowed to…!"

"We´re gonna need them eventually, and what she doesn´t know can´t hurt her" Spencer whispered back, and closed the backpack when she was certain the stolen content wouldn´t be noticeable by either sound or sight. "She might even thank us for it."

They refilled their bottles with water, and decided to head down the stairs to the basement as Paige seemed to take her time down there. While still treading down the squeaking staircase, an amused voice called out from somewhere at the bottom.

"What did I say about stealing my stuff?"

Emily felt herself almost about to slip down, and she saw Spencer tensing even though continuing walking down without missing a beat.

"I´m sorry, _what_?" Spencer tried to play as innocent and unknowing at the accusation as her acting skills let her.

"Playing stupid doesn´t help you Hastings" an entertained Paige shot back.

Spencer was just about to shoot back another attempt at playing innocent as Paige impossibly could´ve have known; she had been down here the whole time and they would´ve heard her if she´d tried to go up the stairs and spy on them, it had to be a test, a trick question. _Yeah it´s just a bluff, _Spencer smugly thought.

But they´d reached the bottom of the staircase and Emily bumped into Spencer who´d suddenly chosen to just stop and block the path; causing Emily to rub her throbbing nose. "Spencer, what´re you _doing_?"

"_Whoa_…" Spencer slowly got out of the way, giving Emily a clear view who gasped with an open mouth.

"This is crazy" Emily breathed out, eyes almost popping out of her head. Paige chuckled.

"Are you secretly supplying an army?" Spencer asked with a failed touch of sarcasm.

The walls were adorned with rifles, guns, shotguns, weapons Spencer didn´t even know the name of. Boxes of ammunition was filing the shelves by the workbench Paige was currently working by, sharpening a sturdy hunting knife with the faint lamp as the only source of illumination. She merely smirked at them both and turned back to her work.

"Finders keepers" she shrugged like it was nothing. "But changing the subject doesn´t mean I don´t know about that food you sneaked into that backpack of yours. If you needed supplies you could just ask me first" she shot a smug grin at Spencer who visibly cringed and got a guilty face, which then turned into a frown. Damn how she hated getting exposed. _And losing._

"How could you_ possibly_ know that?"

"Let´s just say I´m _talented_."

She hoisted her own rucksack onto her back, a shotgun and a rifle strapped on to its sides, and a small gun and knife hanging in her belt. She put the hunting knife in its sheath and threw it to Emily who successfully caught it with both her hands, even though being taken by surprise.

"Thought you´d need that" Paige gave her a reassuring smile and gently opening the small door, light shining from outside and showing stairs leading out into the open green. Paige seemed relaxed, not looking particularly worried for any hidden dangers lurking right outside. Emily was worried Paige wasn´t as reliable as they´d first expected.

"We´re moving out ladies"

* * *

They´d soon went past the overgrown yards and the damaged houses. Sometimes, old and filthy child toys lay scattered across the lawns, abandoned and forgotten, the neighborhood eerily still and lonely. No one lived around here anymore, and most towns and city´s were abandoned and destroyed; the huge outbreak of the virus had turned the world into a frenzy and the vast majority of the population had gotten infected quickly. Nowadays almost everyone lived in what was called quarantine zones, towns protected by fences and scaling walls and militia guarding the entrances.

First they thought that the people who had become aggressive and bitten others were experiencing some form of rabies, or maybe were mentally ill. Then the seemingly animatistic humans had increased; everyone that had been bitten became just as crazy as their attacker, biting and killing other humans as well.

The world had collapsed, and there had been no way to stop it. They still had no cure for the infection; the fungus who would travel from the bite-wound to the inside of the head and grow on the human brain, rendering them psychologically damaged and mindless. If the fungus got to grow for long enough, the body would slowly get engulfed in it, starting from the face. It wasn´t pretty.

The infected children were the scariest; you felt so pained when seeing the little boy or girl slowly approaching you while sometimes clinging to a toy they´d valued when they were still sane, and when close enough they´d throw themselves at their victim and sink their teeth in as deep as they could get. The abandoned toys laying forgotten at some houses only served as a reminder when children could play happily outside with no worries, with friends and family next to them.

* * *

They soon exited the town and trudged on, taking the Herold road and felt oddly at peace. No houses nearby meant less chance of any infected, and they could silently admire the peaceful trees and mountains adorning their view along the road. Emily and Spencer were surprised, as they had been used to encountering hostile creature at regular intervals by now. Paige seemed to know what she was doing, letting the two relax for the first time in quite a while.

Emily took a big gulp of water, wiping of the drops on her chin with the back of her arm as she let out an exhausted huff. The sun was blinding her, and she wished she´d had a cap or a pair of sunglasses right about now.

She halted as she couldn´t hear any footsteps apart from Paige´s steady strides ahead. She turned around and saw an exhausted Spencer bent over, supporting herself with her hands on her knees while she breathed heavily.

"Spencer are you okay?" Emily said as she approached her.

"I...I´m fine...Just...regretting having been... holed up...in that laboratory.. right now..." she wheezed out, slowly straightening herself up again as she didn´t want to slow them down any longer. She felt mortified about how bad her physique was compared to the other two, but mentally licked her wounds by reminding herself that they must´ve walked for about two and a half hours without a break by now, with their packing on top of that.

"Does your friend need a rest?" Paige hollered to Emily, walking back to the other two. She felt concerned, the brunette´s face was beat red and she was sweating quite heavily.

"I´m just dandy, thank you very much" Spencer huffed out, giving Paige one of her million dollar worth fake-smile. Though felt her legs wobbling slightly, feeling like to jelly.

Emily gave Spencer a scowl. "Don´t be so stubborn you´re obviously not" she then quickly turned to Paige to not let Spencer open her mouth and start her usual protesting. "We need a rest, all of us." she said with finality.

Paige nodded, a bit surprised at the usually reserved girls assertive tone. "Uh, yeah of course. Let´s go in there"

They entered the grounds outside an abandoned gas station next to the deserted road. They had to drag away some old planks and discarded tires in front of the doors, until they noticed that the doors ran on electricity. Electricity that they didn´t have.

They wouldn´t get in even after having removed the junk blocking the entrance.

"Great" Spencer said. "well that was pointless."

Paige could only scratch her head, embarrassed. She should´ve thought of that sooner.

Spencer grumbled while Emily tried to comfort her, until Paige suddenly whipped her head at them looking alarmed.

"Shit!" she uttered, glancing around fervently.

Emily and Spencer felt their face paling, if their calm protector was freaking out then something was definitely wrong.

"What´s happening?" Emily said, leaning close to Paige as she was afraid to raise her voice more than necessary.

Paige was now hurriedly expecting the windows and walls of the small gas station house, looking for any way in, cursing until she found one of the windows slightly open. The problem was it was far too high up.

"Emily, get Spencer over here quickly! And bring your backpacks"

She nodded, feeling confused but understanding the urgency, and ran around to Spencer and pulled her to her feet. They ran around to the backside where Paige was standing, on edge and hurried.

"We need to get inside, I´ll hoost you up there to that window" She hunched down and set her legs widely apart to steady herself, and intertwining her fingers in front of her thighs. "Come on, hurry!"

Emily put her right foot in Paige´s hand and steadied herself against the wall, untill Paige pressed her up at her foot, and she grabbed around the window sill and heaved herself inside, carefully landing on her feet.

"See if you can find a rope or something in there!" Paige directed to Emily, quickly glanced at the road, and steadied her eyes on Spencer. "Okay, your turn"

It didn´t go as easy for Spener though, untrained as she was; she was dangling against the wall, desperately trying to pull herself up to heave herself through the window. Paige tried to help her along by trying to get a steady grip around the flailing girls feet to give her a push upwards, but her legs were kicking around far too much for Paige to get a grip.

"Hold still!" Paige hissed at her, become increasingly panicked as she could hear the sounds coming closer from the far end of the road.

"I can´t, I´ll fall if I do!" Spencer hissed back between her clamped teeth, feeling the burn in her muscles.

"You know, Fields is really starting to become my favorite out of the two of you" she tried joking, but had to avoid a kick in the face by one of Spencer´s feet.

She perched her ears. The rumbling was dangerously close now.

Paige, with no further thought, firmly gripped Spencer´s ass and pushed her up as far as she could while standing on her toes. Spencer, with every ounce of strength left, heaved herself over and through the window, and landed on the other side.

"That´s the first and last time you get that kind of service McCullers!"

"How I´m gonna savor the memory then" She shot back.

"Please tell me you found a rope or something in there!" Paige had no way to get in by herself, and she could hear the rumbling noise growing louder and louder. Spencer and Emily could also make out the noise now.

"What the hell´s that?" Emily exclaimed as she tossed the end of a long electrical cord through the window over to Paige.

"_That_... Is the sound of a _war tank_" She heaved herself up on the cord as quickly as she could muster, the rumbling of the heavy machine and voices increasing in volume, with Emily and Spencer groaning as they anchored the other end of the chord. Paige closed the window as she got down, and whispered to them with urgency in her voice. The rumbling from the tank had stopped; right outside. The voices of scouting men searching the area for a way inside, and two men banging strongly on the doors at the entrance reminded them that they weren´t alone. Emily wasn´t sure why they needed to hide, but figured since Spencer didn´t object to Paige´s commands, and Paige obviously knew more about surviving outside the quarantine zones, it wasn´t time for questioning.

"Now, I strongly suggest we hide. _Quick._"


	3. Chapter 3

**So sorry, I´m gonna have some friends staying over for a couple of days so I won´t have that much time to write anything and I´ve been kinda busy, so this´s all I had time to write. It´s more of a "filler chapter?", so I´ve left the ´better´ parts for the next one. **

**Chapter 3**

The raised voices outside and the heavy thumping on the entrance, trembled through the floor and walls, reaching the small wooden desk in the small room right next to the counter. The three were crouching behind the dusty desk, listening intently on the noise from the scurrying adversaries outside.

* * *

"Seems like there´s no way in sir, it´s locked up tight"

"Did you see any diesel tanks?" He reached for a pack of cigarettes, sweeping aside the heavy assault rifle hanging on the side of his back.

"No, the windows are too high up." After a few seconds of thought, he spoke up when he saw their leader reach for his lighter. "Uh, I don´t think smoking here´s such a good idea" when the cautious words left his mouth, he immediately regretted ever having said it. He felt his jaw crack as he flew backwards onto the ground, and the other man with the small package popped a small cigarette into his mouth as he gently shook his right hand, stinging a little from the hard blow.

The man laying on the ground spit out some blood, and carefully held his chin.

"If you little fucks ever tell me what I should and shouldn´t do, I´ll make you fucking wish I threw you to those flesh eaters. Now go and fetch the crowbars before I kick your ugly face in"

* * *

"So who are they?" Emily whispered, as she pushed herself closer against the desk. They could hear sounds from the entrance door; they were trying to break in.

"Yeah, please tell us they´re ballerinas looking for a place to slumber party at" Spencer´s infamous sarcasm seemed to have awoken in the tight dark space they were huddled up in. The stress had gone for a straight sucker punch at her mood.

"You´re from a quarantine zone aren´t you" Paige more stated than asked, and gained a hummed confirmation from the two women. "They´re raiders. They kill and take whatever they get their dirty hands on. Trust me you don´t wanna mess with them."

Spencer snorted. "Our female Crocodile Dundee is afraid of humans but doesn´t bat an eye at infected? _Jesus,_ and my middle name is Bazinga"

"Spence, you´re not helping" Emily scolded.

"No, it´s fine. Infected are simple, but humans..." Emily noted the darkening of Paige´s eyes. "...nothing´s more dangerous than humans."

A loud screeching signaled that the raiders had somehow bent open the entrance doors, and the three turned dead silent as they could hear the sound of steps filling the small house. The men toppled things over, rummaged and wrecked furniture and shelves around the store. They seemed to be looking for something, as one man hollered to another that _there was nothing there_. All three could feel their breath get caught in their throats.

"Go and check in that room next by the counter!"

"Yes sir!"

Spencer uttered a hushed"_shit_" and pressed herself flat against the wooden desk and could see Emily do the same. If they were lucky, they wouldn´t be detected. Paige who couldn´t fit next to them, tried to huddle against their backs and make herself as flat as possible, she put her arm around them both, hands against the wood so they wouldn´t be able to move. Emily felt protected by the gesture while Spencer felt her nerves caving. This feeling of not being in control was draining her every ounce of comprehension.

"Don´t panic, and keep still" Paige hushed to both of them as they could hear one of the raiders heading towards them. Emily felt like she was going to faint and Spencer itched to just grab her gun and go berserk. "Just trust me."

The sound of two heavy boots stopped just in the doorway, and Paige prayed that he´d turn away and not venture further inside. He entered the room though, and stood right in front of the desk. Paige just held her arms around the girls tighter and prayed he wouldn´t see them.

"Found some!" the man yelled, and just as Spencer jerked for her gun, Paige harshly grabbed her hand. The man picked up a small metal tank on the floor and left.

The rumbling of the war tank started up again, and they could hear how the noises faded away as the raiders continued on.

Paige removed her arms and stood up, as Emily let out a loud sigh.

She narrowed her eyes and gave Spencer a glare just to get her point across. She had told them to trust her, yet Spencer had tried to act all on her own; that´s not how she wanted things to work if they were going to get to Madison alive. She´d ventured far enough with these two to just turn back without any reward for the trouble; and she wasn´t just gonna let them end up dying on her either.

"Hastings, if you ever try to pull something like that again without my saying so, then you girls on your own _is that clear_?" she threatened.

Spencer grumbled a bit, until Emily gave her a pointed look. "Fine, got it"

They headed out onto the road again, and trudged onwards. They were all drained from the previous tension, as relief was finally nestling its way back to them. They didn´t have the energy to chat, and that was fine for all of them.

The road was narrow, the left side blocked by the high mountain wall and the right led 50 feet straight down to a forest. The one that had driven that tank had some serious skills.

Emily finally spoke up, while trudging on the long, narrow, mountain road.

"So...how´d you know those raiders were coming? And that thing with the tin cans at your place?" Emily asked, and could see Spencer straightening at the question as well. It was something they´d both been wondering for a while now; how their escort knew things that no one should be capable of knowing. Like a psychic almost, though Spencer had already deemed that thought ridiculous.

Paige looked a bit uncomfortable, and tipped her cowboy hat a bit as to shield her eyes but made no attempt to answer. Spencer was going to speak up and ask as well but refrained; Paige had kept them alive so far and grilling her for answers wouldn´t be fair.

"...Paige?" Emily put a hand on the now solemn girls arm, afraid to have upset her.

Paige looked up, eyes barely visible under the hat, and quickly dipped her head down. It was uncanny how much Emily resembled _her_. The soft tone, kind yet playful demeanor; and now she´d done that comforting gesture Paige had missed for over two years that reminded so much of _her_.

She gently shook of Emily´s hand walked a bit faster; creating a much needed distance between them.

"...Its kept me alive"

And that was all she had to say about it. Spencer and Emily accepted that.


End file.
